72 charger se hideaway headlight problem

[400sforever]

 have a 72 se with hideaway headlights. when I bought the car, I pulled on the headlight switch and the doors opened and the headlights were on. I went to move it at night one time, pulled the light switch and nothing happened. the doors don't open and the headlights don't come on. It did this out of nowhere! anyone know what went bad in the system?

[Bob]

I'm thinking the headlight switch may have burned.

[400sforever]

thanks! I was wondering if that was the problem also..i know there is some kind of relay up under the dash by the ash tray that runs the hideaway motor but since the headlights didn't illuminate I figured that wasn't the problem.

[ottawamerc]

Is there not a fusible link in the feed line to that circuit? possibly blown?

[polywideblock]

look under your dash next to the ash tray , you should find your headlight door relay and the circuit breaker mounted in a bracket  

    if   the relays  fried its  about $300 if you can find one,  don't know about  the circuit breaker  but if you check in electrical there is a thread about replacing them with modern equivalents  

                                                                             http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,100304.0.html

   you can also get away as a quick fix, wire up a simple 3 way   on- off-on  switch using up on one side and down on the other  just remember to turn back to "off "each time  

                                       

[ODZKing]

I don't have hideaways, but I saved this pic from some time ago. Doesn't the 71-2 have a relay under the dash?

Wow, yeah 3513489 is the part number.  What is so special about this thing?

[archie360]

Not to sound like a jerk but are you sure the headlights didn't come on?  I had an issue where the headlight doors remained closed but the lights were on.  I would not have noticed if the hood wasn't open.

[polywideblock]

that's what happens when the headlight door relay goes

[400sforever]

yep I got out of the car and opened the hood when I saw the lights didn't come on...and sure enough the doors didn't open and the headlights were not illuminated..does this indicate a switch going bad all of a sudden or could it still be a relay under the dash?

[polywideblock]

if the lights are not working either I'd check the switch first,  have you checked the fuses 

[400sforever]

yep I checked the fuses..i'll try a switch and try to narrow down the problem

[Nacho-RT74]

headlights doesn't have fuse. The protection on these is actually the main fuse link. I have heard the headlight switch got a breaker... Have doubts about since once a friend got a HEAVY short coming from headlights and this breaker never come intoi play ( fuse link was bypassed )... it burn half of the forward light harness untill we disconected the batt

if headlights are not coming on, the green wire is not getting any power which is the output to floor dimmer switch ( hence red and violet wires to low/high beams ) AND also the trigger for the headlight doors.

I bet is the headlight switch

[400sforever]

I hope you guys are right! a headlight switch sounds like the easiest cheapest fix! the car is all dismantled right now getting a meticulous restoration

[71 SE3834V]

I would not replace the headlight switch until I troubleshooted it. Could very well be a bad connection. These are old cars and the connections corrode. As an example: When I bought my car the headlight doors didn't open but lights lit.  I unplugged the connection for the doors at the firewall and when I plugged them back in the doors worked! Bad connection.
2 common areas for bad connections are the bulkhead and the dimmer switch as far as the headlights circuits.